The Raunch Factor

I'm back from Scotland (and the weather finally cleared up enough to enable a photo-shoot on the last day - which I'll hopefully upload here soon).

You might have noticed my new background and avatar, courtesy of some photos I've just received from a shoot last month with John Tisbury. (If you are not familiar with John's work, then head on over there and feast your eyes). I've always been an admirer of John's work. Not only is the lighting always stunning and the technical aspect of his photography is spot on, his post-processing is recognisably 'Tisbury' and you can usually spot one of his photos just from a thumbnail. But more so than the technical skill required to produce images like these, I absolutely love John's treatment of the subject matter. His tag-line is 'sensual, provocative, erotic,' and I think he has hit the nail on the head with this description. If you've read other entries on my blog, you can't have missed my references to the 'Guild of Erotic Artists' (John is another member, by the way).

'Erotic' is a term that is generally fraught with danger, misconceptions and preconceived prejudices. It is open to all sorts of interpretation. Many confuse the term 'erotic' with 'explicit' but within the gernre of erotic art, this shouldn't necessarily be the case. I would argue that, as a woman, the work that I personally find visually stimulating tends to be art without everything on show. The eroticism is the part that's left to the imagination; the bit you don't see; or the 'blank you have to fill' with your mind. I'm not a fan of photos which display rather intimate parts of the anatomy. Frankly, I can't think of anything less arousing. In fact, I've often wondered if that is the difference between men and women. Do men enjoy viewing porn that leaves nothing to the imagination, while in contrast, women prefer to use their imagination? I don't know, you tell me.

Anyway, I've always enjoyed creating erotically charged, provocative imagery that is not pornographic. Working with John allowed me to push some of my own boundaries, knowing I would be working in a safe environment to do so.

This is a very small selection of images, as we did several sets on the day. Some are more traditional art nude, and others have a definite erotic edge. There are more to come, watch this space.

All images copyright of John Tisbury